


Softer now that you're there

by CirrusGrey



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Episode: The Magnus Archives Liveshow, First Meetings, Fluff, M/M, Pre-Canon, Soulmates, rating is for swears
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-21
Updated: 2020-11-21
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:08:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27657959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CirrusGrey/pseuds/CirrusGrey
Summary: In a different universe, Jon and Martin's first meeting goes rather significantly better.
Relationships: Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist
Comments: 48
Kudos: 378





	Softer now that you're there

**Author's Note:**

> Title from [“There Are Words”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hG4fGeSb-v0) by David Kitt

Martin's first day in his new department had not been going as well as he might have hoped.

For one thing, his coworkers in the Library had apparently not been informed of his transfer, so he'd had to leave them short-staffed and scrambling to cover for him while he boxed up the contents of his desk and carried it all down to the basement.

For another, that box had split when he hastily dropped it onto his new desk, and he was pretty sure his cactus had overturned and spilled dirt over everything that was left inside after most of the contents made a valiant attempt to slide to the floor.

For a third, the reason he had been in such haste was still loose in the Archives, probably causing chaos and  _ definitely  _ going to get him in trouble if the wrong person saw.

There was light shining out through one of the half-open doors in the hallway, though, so maybe - hopefully - Martin could get some assistance with the whole situation and get the day back on track.

He didn't bother to knock, swinging around the doorjamb and flashing a quick smile at the startled man sitting at the desk inside.

"Hey, sorry, you haven't seen a dog, have you?" he asked.

The man's eyes widened. "I'm s-sorry, what?" he stuttered.

"Um- uh, a dog," Martin repeated. "A- a spaniel, I think."

"N-no, I mean," the man said. His eyes hadn't left Martin's face, and he didn't appear to be breathing. "What- what did you say? The  _ exact  _ wording."

Martin froze.

He hadn't really...  _ thought  _ much about soulmates, in the last handful of years. He'd daydreamed about it when he was younger, of course, wishing for the day when a handsome stranger would swoop into his life and free him from the daily drudgery of it all, but...

Well, it was all just a little unrealistic, wasn't it? Finding a soulmate didn't equate to a fairy-tale happily ever after, even if he  _ was  _ lucky enough to find the right person. And with the vagueness of the words tattooed into his skin, it was unlikely he would ever even notice if they were the first thing someone said to him. He had to rely entirely on the hope that  _ he  _ would say something distinctive enough for his soulmate to recognize.

"Wh- what did  _ you  _ say?" he asked, voice barely over a whisper in his shock.

The man across from him - who was indeed quite handsome, now that Martin was looking at him - took a shallow breath. "I said, 'I'm sorry, what?'"

Martin yanked up his sleeve, turning his wrist over so he could see the thin tracings of black ink inside it. Not that he needed the confirmation; he already knew what the words said:  _ I'm s-sorry, what? _

His mouth was dry as he forced himself to speak. "I said, 'Hey, sorry, you haven't seen a dog, have you?'"

He watched the handsome man pull back his own sleeve with wide eyes, watched him look at his wrist. The man gave a shaky exhale, then looked up at Martin. "You don't happen to want help finding that dog, do you?" he asked.

Martin felt rather shaky himself. "Uh- uh, yeah," he said. "That would- yes."

The man - his  _ soulmate, _ holy shit, Martin could not process this right now - stood up from behind his desk. "Right."

Martin held out his hand as the man approached. "I'm- um, I'm Martin, by the way. Martin Blackwood."

The man took it, giving it a firm shake. His hand was very warm, and Martin curled his fingers around the sensation after he let go. "Jonathan Sims," he said. "Jon."

Martin froze, again. He knew that name. "Oh."

"Hm?" Jon gave him a questioning look.

"I, um..." Martin said, blinking rapidly. "I think you're my boss. The- the new Archivist?"

Jon had just stepped past him into the hallway. He stopped in his tracks and turned around, giving Martin a frown. "What?" He shook his head. "No, that can't be right, I requested Tim and Sasha as my assistants. I've never  _ met  _ you before."

"I- I know," Martin said. They certainly hadn't met, otherwise his heart would not be racing in excitement over the relatively normal words they had spoken to each other not five minutes past. "But... Mr. Bouchard transferred me? From the Library, he said I'd be working here..."

Jon paused again, frowning. Martin had never expected his first meeting with his soulmate to involve so many frowns. Then again, he'd never really expected to meet his soulmate at  _ all. _

"Well, he didn't tell  _ me  _ anything about it," Jon eventually said, sounding grumpy.

Martin tried very hard not to find it cute. Then he remembered that Jon was his soulmate, so it wasn't weird to think he was cute. Quite the opposite, in fact.

"Sorry?" he offered.

Jon waved a hand at him, dismissing the apology. "Not  _ your  _ fault," he grumbled, then took a deep breath and sighed. "Right. Well, I'll talk to Elias about  _ that  _ later. For now... how did a dog get in here?"

"Oh." Martin had been hoping to avoid that explanation. "Um. I... may have... let him in?" he said slowly.

Jon raised an eyebrow, giving him an odd look. "...Why?"

"Oh-" He shifted nervously. He didn't think it was  _ possible  _ to make a bad first impression on your soulmate - the universe just didn't allow that sort of thing - but he found he was still terrified of doing so. "Well, I didn't- I didn't  _ mean  _ to, you know, uh- I-" He'd have been more embarrassed about the nervous stuttering if he didn't have tattooed evidence on his arm that it was a shared trait. "We were outside, making friends, and- and then I- I had to come in, but m-my hands were full, and, you know, the door's really heavy, so, so I had to use my foot, and then he just- sort of- like, got past me..."

He trailed off. Jon was still giving him that look.

Then it morphed into a small smile, and Jon chuckled.

"What?" Martin said, mildly offended.

"Sorry, it's just-" Jon shook his head, still smiling. "I would have done the same, if it were a cat."

Martin felt a bloom of warmth start somewhere around his heart and spread out through his entire chest. He returned the smile.

Jon ducked his head, looking away. A flush crept up over his face.

"I think we'll get on quite well," he continued, after a moment of studiously looking away. He sounded shy.

"I'd certainly hope so," Martin said, and Jon's smile grew wider, just for a second, the barest hint of teeth flashing from behind his parted lips before he bit it back and cleared his throat.

"Come on," he said, and his voice was stronger, firmer, more professional. It was so, so obviously a front he was putting on to try and hide how flustered he was, and Martin could already feel himself falling in love. "Let's go find that dog."


End file.
